Baghdad – IA
The President of the Iraqi Olympic Committee, Aqeel Muftin, handed over the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, an official invitation to visit Baghdad.
A statement by the Iraqi Olympic Committee, received by the (INA), said, “Based on the official invitation sent by the International Olympic Committee, the President of the Iraqi National Olympic Committee, Aqeel Muften, met with the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, at the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in the city of Lausanne in Switzerland, in the presence of the Secretary-General of the Iraqi National Olympic Committee, Haitham Abdel Hamid.”
The statement added, “The two sides discussed ways of joint cooperation between the Iraqi and International Olympic Committees, in a way that serves the Olympic sports movement in Iraq, where Bach was briefed in detail on the plans and strategies developed by the President and members of the Executive Office of the Iraqi Olympic Committee, which extend for eight years until the 2017 Olympics.” 2032, after it was approved by the General Assembly at its last meeting last March, and includes the stages of preparing athletes in order to advance the sport of high achievement and achieve the best results in future foreign participations.”
For his part, the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, expressed his “great admiration for the plans and strategies developed by the Iraqi Olympic Committee, and the willingness of the International Olympic Committee to provide the required support and facilitate all technical aspects for Iraq and its athletes to develop the sport of high achievement,” presenting at the same time to the President of the Iraqi Olympic Committee, Aqeel Muften received a certificate of official recognition of the establishment of the Iraqi National Olympic Committee in 1948, with his signature, in gratitude and appreciation for the importance of the Iraqi Olympic Committee, and as a token of support for the President of the Iraqi National Olympic Committee, for the ideas and visions he presented that serve the Olympic movement in Iraq.”
The statement continued, “Muftin met with many officials from the various departments of the International Olympic Committee, including the Director of Olympic Solidarity, James MacLeod, the Director of the Department of Institutional Relations and Governance, Jerome Boivé, and the Director of the Sports Department, Olivier Niameh, in addition to a number of other officials, where Muftin listened to a detailed explanation.” For future programs that could benefit the Olympic movement in Iraq.”
At the conclusion of the meeting, Muften presented “an official invitation to the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, to visit Iraq as soon as possible.” In turn, “Bach welcomed the invitation and promised to visit Iraq and meet with officials after the end of the Olympic Games, which will be held in Paris this summer.”